Dreamnapped
by Authenti
Summary: Amber thinks she's dreaming. She's not. Probably better that she thinks she is, though, or she probably wouldn't be this brave... OC x Jack, completely devoid of Mary Sues because quite frankly I think we've all had enough of those.
1. Underworld

There was a nervous tension in the air. The wind outside was chilling, and whistled through the eaves in the roof. The small Border Terrier downstairs began her painfully sudden, high-pitched barking at nothing in particular.

The protagonist of this tale did not seem to realise the mood that the narrator was trying to set, and was cuddled up asleep in bed with a fat black cat snuggling her face.

She turned over to face the silent alarm clock, which read 2:56 PM. Pale, whitish sunlight streamed down through the open skylight, but it only seemed to make everything look greyer. The cat, now devoid of a face to cling to, yawned and stretched before eventually whipping to his feet and making a mad sprint for the stairs, as cats are prone to do. This sudden motion seemed to wake the girl, who made an irritated noise and brushed her dirty-blonde coloured hair out of her eyes. She sat up slowly, not wanting to open her mouth to yawn because she was too sleepy. Cold air on her tongue would really mess up her brain this 'early'.

"Amber! Are you awake yet?"

She winced at the sound of her mother's voice, and cracked open her mouth to hoarsely yell back, "Yah…"

"Good, good. Just checking!"

Amber blinked dull grey eyes lined with bruise-coloured rings, rubbing one side of her face where she'd been lying on it, and yawned widely. Her first priority was breakfast, though she'd get dressed first and call it 'lunch' when she got downstairs to leave a good impression on her mother, who wasn't stupid; she already knew her daughter had terrible sleeping patterns.

Amber picked out a purple top with 'Eels' written beside a bluebird, and a pair of navy-blue jeans. In a few minutes, she had woken up enough to actually get dressed, and she put on her slip-on black shoes with the red bats on them. She headed downstairs and nabbed some cereal from the top of the cupboard, then took a bowlful back to her room to munch on quietly.

And as soon as her foot went past the threshold to her room, it hit concrete.

"What."

There was a loud rushing sound as she shifted all her weight onto that foot, too late to stop herself, and then she was in Endsville.

Amber stared around at the people going about their daily business, and the ornate silver spoon splashed back down into the bowl. What the hell just happened?

_Okay, either I'm still asleep, or I had a sudden bout of narcolepsy when I entered my room,_ she decided silently. _Either way, it's a dream. Has to be._ She stared at the houses awkwardly for about a minute. _Dreams are spontaneous. Well, I can deal with spontaneous. _She picked up her spoon, sat on the pavement, and finished her cereal – much to the apparent amusement of passers-by.

Eventually, she stood up, empty bowl in hand, spoon in bowl, self in the way of a group of three familiar figures. Thinking fast, she stepped to one side and held out her hand. The scythe easily came loose from the crook of the reaper's arm, and she clutched it to herself tightly as she nonchalantly walked away in the opposite direction.

"HEY! Thief! Give dat back, mon!"

Time to make a getaway. She brought the scythe up, and then slammed it forwards in a slashing motion. A portal tore itself open, and she stepped through just as a bony hand tried to grab her sleeve. It shut equally as fast as it had opened, and Grim was left to complain and whinge to the uncaring idiot and the uncaring demon child.

Amber, however, had no idea where she was. It was too hot, that was for sure.

"Hello-oo," she called in a sing-song voice. It echoed eerily. "Anyone planning on jumping out at me any time soon?" There was no answer… but for a second she could have sworn there was a loud, angry cry in the distance and the sound of a cracking whip. She took this as an omen, and decided against going over there to check it out. Instead, she took a long, careful look at where she was.

It _looked _like Hell. There were occasional pillars of rock that were joined stalactites and stalagmites, and spikes pointing up from the floor and down from the ceiling. The whole place was searing hot, and loops of rock made 'windows' over a cliff nearby. She approached the circular holes and gasped at what she saw through them, ducking immediately to hide behind the rocks.

The ground far below was littered with demons – about one demon for every twenty beings roped to each other. They seemed to be hacking away at the cliff as if they were mining for something. The canyon stretched on for miles, and Amber had a feeling it was all the miners' doing. Impressive, but not in a good way.

She peered over the edge once more, shaking slightly. There were mostly humans on the ropes, but there were other humanoid beings there, too. Some had fur, others had wings, and still others had claws. All were apparently slaves to the larger, dragon-like demons. It was frightening to watch, and the overlords were cruel.

_I think I _must _be in hell_, Amber thought, shuddering involuntarily despite the intense heat. There was a noise from behind her, and she whirled around to see a hulking beast lumbering past, covered in spikes. It was dragging someone by the collar who had their arms folded as if this happened every day.

The creature caught the colour purple out of the corner of its eye, and stopped to stare at the human.

"Oi," it snarled, "are you another runaway?" Without waiting for an answer, it caught hold of her shirt, snagging several claws on it in the process, and yanked her to her feet. She clutched the scythe protectively, but it didn't seem to notice the potential weapon at all.

Jack stared at her, unable to believe his eyes. An unfamiliar teenage girl, in the Underworld, _with Grim's scythe_. He hoped desperately that no one else would realise what the object was, and made a mental note to steal it as soon as possible. His hand drifted to the trusty feather in his hat, and he smirked. An escape would be possible, after all…

"Please! Let go! I didn't mean to come here!"

"Yeah, neither did they," the beast responded, pointing a hooked claw at the thousands of mine-workers. "Deal with it," it grunted, and increased the pace slightly. She struggled a little, and then remembered what a weapon of power she was holding. _Idiot._

Amber raised the scythe to her right, aiming just behind the monster's neck. She brought it down full-force, and the now-headless creature crashed to the ground with a thud.

Just then, something took hold of the scythe.

"EEEEEEEE LET GO LET GO-"

"Shut it," Jack hissed. "Do you _want _the entire Underworld to hear you?" He yanked the feather from his hat and advanced on her, grinning. The only thing that put him off was the sudden look of realisation on the girl's face.

"Oh! I remember now! You're Jack O'Lantern, the Hallowe'en prankster," she gasped, eyes twinkling. He frowned, confused at why she would bring this up _now_, and in that moment of confusion she realised what he was trying to do with the feather.

She yanked the scythe back and stepped several paces backwards until she was flat against the cliff wall. "Nuhh, you're not getting this. I pulled off the first successful thieving mission in my life to get this. Albeit I _am _dreaming, obviously, but I still think it counts.

"Why you little- give me that!" he snapped, making a wild grab for the scythe, but she slashed open a portal and stepped through quickly… stopping halfway.

"Jack?"

"Oh, just get out. If you're not going to let me have the chance of a lifetime – something I've worked for years to have – then you can just go back where you came from." He sounded angry, but after a few seconds he collapsed to the floor and sat there with a suppressed whine. After so long, the chance had just slipped out of his reach via a teenage girl. He felt pathetic. Maybe he was losing his touch? Maybe-

There was a hand wavering in front of his face.

"Come on. You can't just sit there and wait for the monsters to find you."

"What?"

She growled in irritation and bent down to take a firm grip on his gloved hand, forcing him to his feet and practically dragging him through the portal.


	2. The Pact

Jack hit the pavement with a thud. Amber followed shortly after, and landed behind him. He attempted to grab the scythe, but she was holding on too tightly and they were causing a scene.

"Uh… kid?"

"Yes?" she answered, with a sickening mock sweetness.

"What date is it today?"

"October the twentieth," she answered politely.

"Uh-oh."

A shadow cast itself over them both.

"Whut is this, some kinda dumb dare?" came a loud, gruff voice. They stared up at the heavily-built man who had approached them. "Or didja really get the date wrong?"

"Uh… Hello." Jack gave a nervous laugh.

"D'you _want _me to teach you a lesson?" Okay, the man was obviously drunk. And men like him usually got violent when they were drunk.

"Jack, move."

"What?"

"I said," she hissed, "_move_." She stood up, brushed herself off, gave a sickly grin in the general direction of the drunkard, and then shoved Jack as hard as she could to get him running. Within minutes, they were at the door of his old house. Jack tried the door, but it was locked – the real estate people must have assumed it was uninhabited. He patted himself down for a key, but found none. It must have gotten lost in the Underworld… He cursed under his breath.

"Can't get in?"

"Shut up."

"Can you reach that window?" She pointed up, and Jack stared at the only open window, one floor up.

"No," he sighed after weighing up his chances. "I'd need a ladder."

Amber prodded him in the shoulder. "Give me a boost, and I'll go open the door."

"What? No! It's my house, why should I let you do it? You give _me _a boost!"

Amber rolled her eyes and pointed to her skinny arm. "Do you think I have the strength to lift someone taller and heavier than me?"

There was a long silence. She was right, he decided. He gave in and crouched down. "Stand, don't sit, or you won't reach."

Amber nodded and carefully placed a foot on his shoulder, then the other, and he straightened up slowly. She kept her balance by leaning on the wall with her hands, and eventually she could just reach the window.

"A bit higher, or I won't be able to get over the edge."

Jack growled in frustration and managed to lever his hands beneath her feet, and lifted her higher. He felt the weight shift, then vanish completely, and heard a loud, tell-tale thud as she landed awkwardly on the wooden floor. About a minute later, she'd found her way downstairs.

"Uh… Now what?"

"There's a spare under the doormat."

"Right." There was a shuffling noise, then a clink as she dropped the key accidentally, and then the click of a latch.

"You're a smart kid," he breathed, in an irritated sort of way. "Too smart. Now get lost. I have no use for people who won't fall for the feather." He entered the house and stared up at the ceiling. As much as he'd hated being stuck here all year, it was good to be back here and not in the Underworld.

"What feather?" She sounded like she was about to laugh for some reason.

He touched absent-mindedly at his cap, then gasped and jolted back to the present as he realised it was gone. He looked back at the girl, and unsurprisingly, it was sitting on her head as if she'd worn it all her life.

"Give that back _right now_!" he yelled, making a dash for it, but she just danced back a few steps so she was just out of his reach. He almost followed her outside, but thought better of it and retreated again, hands thrown up in a defensive way. "Okay. _Okay._ Just give the hat back."

"Magic word?"

"Abracadabra."

"Fair enough," she chuckled, and slipped inside before he could block the way, and in one smooth movement replaced his hat in its rightful place. He straightened it out and attempted to make her leave, but she was now sitting at the top of the stairs. Damn, she was fast.

Jack could have sworn his candle flared up to twice its usual size. He dashed up the stairs, but she had taken a firm grip on the banister and refused to be moved.

"…Kid," he sighed finally, "what in heck do you _want_? Why won't you just get lost?"

Amber laughed softly. "I want to stay here for a while. Your house is neat."

"You are the biggest freak I have ever met… besides that dumb reaper, of course… Speaking of which, I'll be needing that scythe."

"You clung to my arm like a limpet all the way here, and now you want to kick me out. I have nowhere else to go," she added, trying to get sympathy on her side, but he wasn't buying it. "That's just plain bad manners."

"It's bad manners to practise breaking and entering, kiddo."

"Too bad. If I left now, you'd lose the scythe for good."

Jack froze. The kid had a good point. Plus, what harm could it do to have a teenager in the house? If anything, it could be useful...

"Fine. You can stay. On one condition…" She nodded expectantly. "The scythe is mine."

"No. I could easily just behead you again, if I didn't want to comply. Though I am willing to make a bargain."

Jack gaped at her. This was turning into that night all over again…

"Half the time. Twelve hours a day, it's yours, and you can't use it against me."

The prankster considered this. No doubt he could find a loophole later… "Deal." He held out his hand, and she held out hers – the one with the scythe clutched in it. They shook hands with the scythe between their palms, and it glowed sky-blue for a second before they both felt a vague jolt and the glow vanished.

"What was that?" Amber blinked. "Did that seal the deal or something?"

"I think so. I remember that happening when I made the pact with the reaper."

"Oh." She grinned. "Guess this means neither of us can go back on our word, now. Damn, I was planning on nicking off with it."

Jack gave an amused chuckle. "You know I was too."

Amber nodded and headed for the kitchen. "Okay, time to raid for snacks." She headed for the kitchen that she'd accidentally stumbled into when looking for the front door earlier. Jack caught her collar and kept her from that room for a moment.

"There's nothing in there. First of all, I don't need to eat, and second, I don't exactly get the chance to keep it stocked."

Amber batted at his hand. "Graar. That's disappointing."

There was a loud rumble from behind her, and she glanced at Jack to catch him holding his stomach as if he'd just been punched and watching her to check if she'd heard it or not.

"Don't need to eat, huh?"

"Shut up. I don't die, but it's not like I'm full all the time, either," he mumbled reproachfully. "I'm going to my room. I suggest you stay downstairs. Upstairs is all spidery, and I know from experience how much little girls hate spiders."

Amber turned to give him a Look, but he had already vanished upstairs. She checked her pockets instead, and found some change and lint… Plus it was English money. What use was this in Endsville? They used dollars, as far as she knew. She sighed and stepped back into the hall, crossing it to get to what was apparently the lounge… although it looked pretty bare.

The blonde girl yawned and stepped over to the fireplace, which was pretty much the only interesting feature in the room aside from the window. A floorboard creaked and shifted slightly underfoot.

Intrigued, she picked at the edge of the board with her nails until it came loose easily. There seemed to be a stash of wallets and pocket change here.

_I hate to make such a bad pun,_ she grinned, _but seriously. Jackpot._


End file.
